Can-closure.



0. BBGHER. CAN CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1910.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO BECHER, OF COPIAGUE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN METAL CAP PANY,OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

COM-

CAN-CLOSURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 11, 1910. Serial No. 537,569.

ague, in the county of Suflolk and State of New York, have invented newand useful Improvements in Can-Closures, of which the following is aspecification.

' This invention relates to tops and sealing caps for cans, bottles,jars and other like receptacles, and particularly to means for securingan interlocking connection between the container and cap, whereby an airor liquid-tight closure may be secured.

The object of the invention is to provide a construction which willafl'ord rea y application of the cap to the can and its ready releasefor removal, and which will secure the production of an absolutely airor watertight closure, and further to provide a novel construction ofcap which Wlllinterlock accurately with the container and cannot becomeaccidentally displaced.

A,further object of the invention is to provided a cap having lugs orindentations of novel construction to engage inclined flanges orshoulders on the container, which lugs are so formed as to securemaximum stren h and to withstand the strain impose upon them and toenable a cap of thin metal to be produced and a firm binding actionobtained without liability of distortion of the cap.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a cap which may belocked per.- inanently to the receptacle sothat it can not be removedwithout mutilating the cap and receptacle, whereby the seal cannot betampered with without giving visual evidence of such fact.

The invention consists in the features of. construction, combination andarrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in wh1ch:

Fi re 1 is a perspective view, illustrating t e application of theinvention to a meta lic can. through the neck or top of the can and theclosure ca Fig. 3 is an elevational view'of the top 0 the can. Fig.4 isa bottom plan view of the cap. Fig. 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectionon the-line'5-5 of'Fig. 2. Fig, 6 is an enlarged, cross section on thescribed.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section.

the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the body of a receptacle, shownin the present instance in the form of a metallic can, having a top orneck portion 2 secured thereto, which neck portion is provided withoutwardly and downwardly bent substantially triangular flanges 3,provided with inclined lower or cam-shaped locking edges 4, the edges ofthe respective flanges being inclined in the same direction. The

line 6-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a section on Patented'Nov. S, 1910.

several flanges terminate in vertical shoulders 4 and are separated byintervening spaces 5, for a purpose hereinafter de- The closure employedcomprises a sheet metal cap 6 embodying a flange 7 and a top or crownport-ion 8. The cap is adapted to be used in connection with an ordinarysealing disk 9 and liner 10 of suitable material, to form a close jointbetween the same and the rim edge of the neck 2, but'the sealing diskmay be used with or without the liner, as different circumstances mayrequire.

The upper portion of the flange of the cap is provided with an annularseries of vertical corrugations 11, forming a milled surface by whichthe cap may be tightly gripped for application and release. Thesecorrugations are formed by offsetting portions of the flange solel in anoutward direction, so that there will be no inwardly extendin portions,of the corrugations to bind against the cam flanges 3 and interfere witha proper locking action. between said flanges and the cap. Below thecorrugated or milled surface the flange of the cap is formed atintervals with instruck lugs or projections 12 corresponding in numberto the flanges'3 and adapted to pass downward .so as to provide a lug orprojectionof maximum strength to resist possible distortion orstretching of the metal during the binding action. I

In practice, each lug or projection is bearing edge 14 to frictionallyengage the.

inclined surface 4 of one of the cam flanges 3 and interlock therewithwith a substantially knife-edged effect, to secure a firm bindingaction. The slit 13 is preferably arranged slightly below the adjacentcorrugation or corrugations, so that in the operation of forming the lug12, the edges of the metal at the base of the corrugation will beprojectedinward by the action of the forming die to produce a bracinglip 15 which extends between the walls of the cutaway portion, thusbracing the lug or projection against either transverse orcircumferential displacement. This lip, in addition to acting as abracing element to prevent distortion of the metal, may also exert abinding action on a cam flange to cooperate with the projection inlocking the cap securely in posltion upon the neck.

In the operation of closing the mouth of the container, it'will beunderstood that the cap is arranged to bring the lugs 12 intoalinementwith the spaces 5 between the cam flanges 3, after which, thecapis forced downward upon the neck until the lugs pass into contact.with the inclined edges 4 of the flanges, whereupon the cap is turned inthe proper direction to lock it in position, the

turning action and contact of the lugs with said inclined edges causingthe cap to be drawn down to force the sealing disk 10 closely intocontact ,with the rim of the neck, thus forming an absolutely secure airand liquid-tight closure. As, in this operation, .lugs 12 bind firmly onthe inclined edges 4, any possibility of the cap being casually turnedback to break the seal will be avoided. To release the cap, it is simplynecessary to turn it in a retrograde direction until the lugs againregister with the spaces 5, whereupon the lugs will be free from the camflanges and'the cap may be withdrawn. Owing to the described mannerofconstructing the lugs 12, the lugs are rendered of great strength andrigidity, and, hence, the cap may be turned very tightly into engagementwith the cam flanges without liability offdistorting the flange of thecap, even when the cap is made of very thin material, so as to destroythe effectiveness of the seal.

The cap may be provided with any suit: able form of crown portion 8,.anordinary imperforate crown being employed when the cap is designed to becoupled to the container so that it may be removed to allow the contentsof the container to be extracted in the usual way through the neck 2.Under some conditions, however, it is desirable to rovide a means bywhich the cap may be ocked to the receptacle in such manner that itcannot be removed ,without mutilating it, and thus giving visualevidence of the fact that it has been tampered with. A cap of this typeis desirable to prevent the substitution of inferior goods for those ofknown quality, and in the event of the use of such a cap, it isnecessary toprovide some means whereby the contents of the receptaclemay be withdrawn through the cap. In constructing a cap to be lockedpermanently upon the neck, I provide the flange of the cap withcircumferentially extending looking tongues 16, equal in number to themetal of the flange and projecting the freedportion of the metalinwardly on curved lines tangentially to the flange, the free ends ofthetongues extending in a direction reverse to that in which the cap isturned in applying it to the receptacle. The arrangement of the tonguesis such that their free ends are adapted to ride upon the outer faces ofthe cam flanges 3 until the cap is fully applied, and then springinwardly into engagement with the vertlcal shoulders 4 of said flanges,at which time" they act as de tents to prevent retrograde rotation ofthe cap to remove the cap by turning it backward, the pressure thrownupon the tongues causing them to bend inwardly to a further degree topass behind the flanges 3, by which the removal of the cap will beabsolutely prevented. Such movement of the cap as well as any attem t tobend the tongues out ward from locklng engagement with the flanges,would result in the mutilation of the cap or flanges or both, thusgiving visual evidence of the fact that an attempt has been made toremove the cap from the rece tacle. The crown 8 of the cap is providedwith an opening 17' which may register with an opening'in the liner 10,and which is closed by the"- disk 9 against communication with theinterior of the jar and by the lid 01" cover 18 against communicationwith the atmosphere. This lid or cover ispivotally connected at one sideof the crown as indicated at 19 so as to be swung outward laterally toexpose the opening, and is provided with'an indentation 20 adapted toengage an indentation 21 on the crown to secure it in closed osition. Ifdesired, the lid may be forme with a rib or projection 22, serving as afinger piece by which it maybe manipulated. Whenit is desired to secureaccess to'the container for the purpose of re moving its contents, thelhkis opened and the exposed portion of the isk 9 cut away, allowing thecontents to be removed through the opening 17.

While I have illustrated my invention in connection with a can top, itwill, of course, be understood that it may be employed in conjunctionwith bottles, jars, or other analogous' types of containers.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, is

1. The combination with a receptacle having its neck portion providedwith looking projections having inclined faces, of a cap having lockingelements upon its flange to engage said faces, and provided withadditional locking members for engagement with bein lip ying between thewalls of the projecsaid projections to lock said cap against removal.

2. The combination with a receptacle having its neck portion providedwith locking members formed with inclined fa ces,' of a cap having itsflange formed with locking projections to engage said inclined faces,said locking projections being separated at their upper edges from theflange and comprising substantially V-shaped instruck portionsvertically disposed upon the flange with their upper edges horizontallyarranged to engage the inclined faces.

3. The combination with a rece tacle having its neck portion rovidedwith locking members formed with inclined faces, of a cap having itsflange formed with locking projections to engage said inclined faces,each of said projectlons being separated at its upper edge from the bodyof the flange and comprislng an inwardly offset V-shaped portion, theadjacent ortion of the flange above said projection Eeing bent inward toprovide a bracing li located between the side walls of said V-s apedportion.

4. The combination with a rece tacle having its neck portion providedwlth locking members formed with inclined faces, of a bottle cap havingits flange formed with an annular row of corrugations and provided belowthe same with looking engage said :inclined faces, sald projectionsbeing separated from the adjacent corrugations or corrugation and bentinwardly substantiany in V -form, the metal at the base of said ad acentcorrugation or corrugations bent inwardly to provide a bracing tions.

projections to 5. The combination with a receptacle having cam-shapedlocking members thereon, of a cap provided with projections to engagesaid locking members and having tongues adapted to interlock with saidlocking members to prevent removal of the cap.

6. The combination with a receptacle having locking members providedwith inclined lower faces and terminal shoulders, of a cap havingprojections to engage said inclined edges and tongues to interlock withsaid shoulders, said tongues being arran ed to prevent removal of thecap from t e receptacle.

,7. The combination with a receptacle having cam locking membersthereon, said members being provided with inclined lower faces andterminal shoulders, of a ca having projections to engage said inclineedges and also having circumferentially-extending tongues to interlockwith said shoulders, sald tongues being arranged between saidprojections and in advance thereof in the direction of the applyingmovement of the cap for engagement with said shoulders to preventremoval of the cap from the receptacle. I

8. The combination with a receptacle havin locking members thereon, of acap provi ed with locking projections to engage said locking members tosecure said cap in position, and integral auxiliary locking members uponthe cap bent inwardly. therefrom to engage the locking members on thereceptacle, to lock the cap against retro.-. grade rotation.

9. The combination with a receptacle having locking members providedwith inclined lower faces and terminal shoulders, of a cap havingprojections to engage said inclined edges and circumferentially arrangedtongues having free ends bent inwardly to interlock with said shoulder,said tongues being 0 erative to prevent retrograue movement 0 the capand its disconnection from the receptacle.

In testimon whereof I aflix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

' OTTO BECHER.

Witnesses:

CHRIS. FRANK MURRY, FRANK M. DALRYMPLE.

